The Mid-Prairie Golden Hawk boys and girls basketball teams dropped both ends of a road doubleheader at Williamsburg Tuesday. In a pair of games heard on AM and FM KCII, the Golden Hawk girls opened the night, falling by a 60-48 score. The first half was tight with the game tied at 13 after one period and the Raiders holding a slim 27-26 lead at the break. In the second half, Mid-Prairie lost their slim statistical edge in the turnover battle and on the glass, and the Raiders capitalized, forcing 14 second half Golden Hawk turnovers and outrebounding Mid-Prairie by 10 after halftime. Williamsburg also shot 21 free throws to Mid-Prairie’s 11 on the night. After the game, Mid-Prairie head coach Danny Hershberger talked about what made the difference in the second half. “It was one of those situations where their pressure got to us a little bit. We were trying to go too fast. We took ourselves out of what we were doing. We were able to get some good looks during that stretch, they just weren’t going in. We had a lot of layups that we left out there tonight. In practice for the last few days we talked about the importance of rebounding in this game. Sending five girls to the glass and everyone doing their job. Them outshooting us at the free throw line was also a big key. Our 25 turnovers is too many, but we lost a lot of seniors from last year’s team and we’re still getting used to their roles and playing with each other.”

The Raiders put a trio in double figures with Taylor Winegarden scoring 18, Kendra Eichhorn 13 and Charlotte Wetjen 12. The Golden Hawks got a double double of 20 points and 12 boards from Phelan Hostetler. With the loss, Mid-Prairie is now 1-1 on the year and will travel to Tipton Friday.

The Mid-Prairie boys opened their season Tuesday, and despite feeling in control much of the night, couldn’t finish off a victory, falling to a late Raider surge 74-70. Both teams got up and down the floor in the first half with the game tied at 16 after one quarter and thanks to a Jack Pennington 3/4 court heave, the Hawks had a 39-37 lead at the break. In the second half the pace remained frantic, and so did a slim Mid-Prairie lead with the Hawks up 58-51 going to the fourth quarter. They would stretch the lead to nine at it’s largest before the Raiders put together a 13-2 run in the middle of the fourth quarter on the strength of a six minute Mid-Prairie drought from the floor. After the game, Golden Hawk head coach Daren Lambert talked about the stretch run and what we learned about his team from the first game. “We got a little careless with the basketball and created easy buckets for them at the other end. We took quick shots, and they didn’t have to work as hard on their end to get good looks. That 13-2 run really gave them momentum. Carter Harmsen had 36 points and we knew he could score the basketball. It’s been a while since someone in a Mid-Prairie jersey put up numbers like that. The guys were getting him good looks and in turn he started drawing extra defenders and getting the other guys looks. Alex Bean hit some big shots for us, he had 16 including four threes. Harmsen and Will Cavanagh each had 10 rebounds. We are a tough basketball team. First thing I said when I walked in the locker room is that I am extremely proud of this group.”

In the win, Williamsburg had three in double figures. Levi Weldon put up 22, Jake Weber 17 and Will DeSmet 11 off the bench. The Hawks got 36 from Carter Harmsen, a new career high. Alex Bean hit for 16 including four three pointers and Ethan Kos added 10. With the loss, the Golden Hawks are now 0-1 on the year and travel to Tipton Friday.